NEW YORK — 24/7 Real Media Inc., the leading global digital marketing company, has begun a pilot program to integrate social media engagement metrics into its behavioral targeting application. These social media engagement metrics will augment existing behavioral targeting attributes to drive robust advertising response and conversion.

Working with companies such as NuConomy, an innovator in social media measurement, select 24/7 Real Media advertisers are now leveraging non-traditional metrics such as comments, ratings, video plays, and link sharing to customize advertising, increase responsiveness and drive purchases. NuConomy’s approach to analytics measures the social elements of digital media, including Flash, AJAX, and Silverlight applications.

The use of social media has grown exponentially over the past few years. More than 580 million people now use social networks worldwide*, and an estimated $2.3 billion will be spent on social network advertising in 2009†. In addition, there are over 105 million blogs on the Internet, with 45,000 more created each day‡. The prevalence of user interaction on these sites, such as posting comments and sharing links, presents advertisers with an effective new means of targeting.

“Advertisers must continually adapt their targeting strategy to reflect the behaviors of consumers. Integrating social media analytics will give our customers another tool for delivering relevant messages that drive response,” said Brian Lesser, GM of the Media Innovation Group at 24/7 Real Media.

About 24/7 Real Media, Inc.
24/7 Real Media, Inc. a WPP company is the leading global digital marketing company, empowering advertisers and publishers to engage their target audiences with greater precision, transparency and ROI. Using its award winning ad serving, targeting, tracking and analytics platform, powerful search marketing technology and global network of specialized Web sites, the company has turned the art of reaching audiences across virtually any digital medium into a measurable science. The company is headquartered in New York, with 18 offices in 12 countries throughout North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, please visit www.247realmedia.com.
24/7 Real Media: The Science of Digital Marketing.

24/7 Real Media is a member of the NAI and adheres to the NAI privacy principles that have been applauded by the FTC. These principles are designed to help ensure Internet user privacy. For more information about online data collection associated with ad serving, including online preference marketing and an opportunity to opt-out of 24/7 Real Media cookies, go to: www.networkadvertising.org.